The Choice
by Nandon
Summary: Marcus Artorius is a Imperial Ranger, and a member of the Dawnguard, when he must make a choice to enter the soul cairn with Serana he has no idea that soon he will be forced to do what he hates...Only does he hate it anymore? (I suck at Summaries, Please read and review if you feel like it! SeranaXDragonborn )


A/N: I was inspired to write this shortly after I had to make the choice between becoming a vampire lord, or being soul sharded or whatever. Hope you all enjoy this!

Marcus grunted and staggered back, falling on his rear end as he tried to catch the breath that had suddenly been sucked from his lungs, it had felt as if the soul cairn had just tried to steal his soul to enter or something, whatever it was, was extremely painful.

"That seemed like it hurt, here stand up and come here…I think I know what's wrong…" Serana called from behind him as he started to stagger to his feet. "What looked like it hurt? Me falling on my poor ass? Or that gaping swirling hole in the floor trying to steal my soul? To answer that both did." Marcus then grinned a bit at her. He was growing to be very fond of Serana, even though he knew he should probably be trying to kill her and her kind.

Serana for her part smiled a bit at Marcus, Somehow he always knew just how to lighten the mood. "Mighty perceptive of you to know it was trying to take your soul…because, well your right…" She said to him as he reached the top of the steps leading into the soul cairn, she then turned and walked abit away, her mind racing while she thought of how they could get into the soul cairn without marcus losing his soul in the process.

"What can I say? I am certainly perceptive…" he started to speak before stopping as she walked away, when she sat down he spoke again, leaning against one of the pillars. "What are we going to do then? If I cant go in their I don't want you going in there alone and possibly losing that Elder scroll to whatever monsters lurk in there…"

"Well…I have two things that I think we can do…Unfortunately I don't think you will exactly like either…" Serana started, looking over at him as she stood up from the chair and began to pace. Marcus patiently wait for her to continue. "The first…being…I can turn you into a vampire like me…The reason I say this is because my mother was able to enter there, which means I should be able to…The soul cairn is trying to take your soul as payment since you are living, and the living are not generally allowed in the soul cairn…If you became a vampire like me…That would obviously be rectified…" When she finished Marcus remained quiet, his brain visibly going through his thought processes, The strange look lay on his face that Serana knew meant he was considering his options heavily. "Not your first choice right?"

"Not my first, Second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth choice either Serana…There was a reason I declined the first time when your father offered me…What's the other thing we can do?" He asked, still thinking over the whole vampire thing, though he really didn't like that idea and would avoid it if at all possible.

"Well…I can put your soul into a soul shard-" She was then cut off by Marcus.

"Wouldn't that kill me?"

"No…I'd only put a part of your soul in, and use that as an offering…You would however be weakened while we are in there, which of course runs its own risk…If you die in the soul cairn, you stay there for eternity…"

"So…Let me get this straight, My options are to either become a vampire, Something that you know perfectly well how I feel about…Or I can put a part of my soul into a soul shard, and weaken myself to the point where I could even die…And then forever by trapped in the soul cairn yes?"

Serana slowly nodded, she knew he wouldn't like either of the options she had presented, but she had little time to think it over, and time was not a luxury they had. "Yes…That is right…" She stated with a nod. "I know these are both hard choices…and no matter what you choose I wont think less of you…I promise, sometimes we have to do what we have to do…Ill let you think this over now…" She finished and started to walk a brief distance away towards one of her mothers book shelves.

He plopped down into the chair she had previously vacated and sighed abit. He hated the options she had given him. But deep deep down he knew they where the only choices he had on a short time schedule.

On one hand he could become a vampire, the one thing in the world that he truly hated with a passion, Serana being the only exception to the rule. On the other hand he could weaken himself to the point that he could die, and even if he survived and made it out of there, he wasn't sure if his strength would be returned to him, which was equally dangerous. "Damnit all…" He muttered and stood up, his choice was plain to him. And he hated it.

"Alright Serana…I made my choice…" He called and she walked over gracefully to him. Looking at him expectantly. "I…Will become a vampire like you…" he said in an almost defeated tone.

Serana's eyes widened as she heard his choice, it was the one she had expected, but still she knew of his hate of vampires. "Oh marcus…" She murmered. "Well…I guess if this is your choice then I should tell you a couple things…First off…This will hurt…I will try to make it feel as good as I can, but the beginning it will hurt, I need you to stand as still as you can…" She started, then swallowed, feeling abit embarrassed about what she had to tell him next.

"Second off…This…Is an extremely personal and intimate thing for vampires…" She then glanced down at his feet only to look back up as he chuckled abit. "Well, I'm glad your going to be the one that does this to me then Serana…" He then paled about. "I'm also doubly glad I didn't let your father do this to me…That would be a bit awkward wouldn't it?" He then smiled weakly, it was a poor attempt at humor, but one she appreciated. And one that she thought she may even love him for.

She took a couple tentative steps towards him, she suddenly had a feeling that she never remembered feeling before. She at Marcus and the weak smile on his face, He was trying to be brave…be brave for her…She leaned closer and pressed her soft lips against his, only for a moment, just long enough for the feeling of a kiss to sink in and feel wonderful, her arms wrapped around him and she tilted her face as she pulled away, leaning over to whisper into his ear. "I shall make this as good as I can for you…I promise…" She felt him nod, and then his own arms wrap around her, she sighed. It was the first hug of any sort that she had had in centuries, and it felt amazing to her. She suddenly became worried, what if she drank to much of his blood? And accidentally killed him? Killed the only man who had showed her any kindness in over a millennia.

Marcus seemed to sense her worries and pulled away slightly so that he could face her, his arms still wrapped around her. "Serana…I trust you…I wouldn't let you do this if I didn't…" And as she looked at him, she knew that he truly did trust her and that strengthened her resolve, she would do this right, and then all would be well. She nodded and leaned towards his neck, bringing her soft lips to the spot she was about to bite in a soft kiss, She felt his heartbeat quicken, though she had know idea where that was because of what she was about to do to him, or from the kiss.

Marcus sighed slightly then gasped as he felt her fangs enter his neck, His heartbeat quickened and the pain, while not as much as he would have thought, was still a lot. His arms shook around her and he struggled to remain still. He began to panic, his heart beginning to beat faster and faster, his blood pumping.

But then that was replaced as the pain eased away, replaced by, what honestly felt fairly good, almost as if she was kissing him upon the neck. His arms squeezed tightly around her while he waited. He wasn't sure how this was supposed to go, but he was sure she would help him. He trusted her, utterly and truly.

After a short time his vision began to darken, but he didn't care. The wonderful feeling of the woman he now realized that he loved at his neck was to much to worry about the other things, and he almost didn't realize when one of her arms left him and moved up towards his face, He was suddenly hungry as she presented her wrist to him and he bit into it with a hunger that he had not expected, drinking from her blood for a moment almost ravenously. But then he remembered the pain he had briefly felt when she had first bitten him, and paced himself. Hoping to bring her the same feeling her had felt.

He heard a moan escape from the face in his neck and he would have smiled if he could. He was beginning to understand what she meant by intimate, His heart beat had slowed and as he drank her blood he realized that their heart beats matched each other, they where one. One heart beat, one person…One love…

They both drew away at almost the same time, almost sad for the moment to have ended, he felt her kiss the spot she had just bitten and so as he withdrew he kissed her wrist, almost shocked to find it healed the bite wound.

As they then gazed at eachother, both their lower faces covered in the other's blood, they both spoke at the same time.

"I love you…"

And no matter what wait inside the soul cairn for them, marcus knew that he would protect her with his dying breath. He always would. They turned and arm and arm walked into the soul cairn. Hoping to escape and be together forever.

A/N: I promise I don't like twilight, but I liked Serana as a character, and thought she should have been included as a marriage option, so this is my little tribute to that romance. I hope you all liked it, and as always. Read and Review! 


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